MARYSVILLE GOLD ON 'D STREET' - CANDY BOX

This old geezer once chided Nancy Pasternack, scribe with Appeal Democrat, about the lack of stories about The Candy Box and the lovely owner.  Nancy has a sense of humour and wrote back telling MOI had been 'local' not so long and The Appeal Democrat HAD written countless stories about the shop and the lovely lady.  Truth be told, this old geezer is bit full of self a times and forgets that much has happened BEFORE his arrival on the local scene.

When one finds gold local, it can never be tiring to remind folks of the pure pleasure at the discovery.  Given that this is me blog and am not short of space, it might just follow that my take on Ethel and the wondrous delights to be found at the Candy Box might get more aware of the treat missed by not coming through Downtown Marysville.

 Although it has been a year since first meeting Ethel, it was a meet one never forgot.  I was new in town and wandering round the road looking for things to purchase or marvel at.  Stepping into the Candy Box, I was warmly met by Ethel, who gave a sample of her wares to and told about the new town I had picked to call home.
I was gobsmacked at her story telling at her story telling ability, made more special by her telling the story of the McIntosh Turtles, written by her and soon to be published.  It was quite clear that Ethel loved her product and loved people.
I promised to buy her book when it came out and did purchase chocolates that very day.  Returned oft to get even more.  Might explain why this old geezer got so massive.  Mind, it was me fault and not the result of the chocolate, no one said I had to eat the whole bloody box.  And what a lovely box it is, the collection of McIntosh turtles are wrapped in gold.

A year passes quickly when you are doing community work and living in a different part of the community.  Linda was no so far away but the trips to The Candy Box were not as oft as they might have been.  Odd how one misses out on so much when one does not visit.  Me bad.

Now I am back in Marysville proper and one of the first places gone to was The Candy Box and to have a long chat with Ethel.  Mind, the chocolate was calling as well, even if this old geezer is on a diet.

 Times were mean a year ago, and it seems as if mean times still haunt D Street.  There are more shops gone and merchants up and down 'high street' click tongues and tell one and all how tough it is to make a buck when no one comes to D Street.  To hear some merchants tell it, they are just waiting for the lamps to be turned off, casting the road into darkness.  So down are some local merchants on selves and lack of business, they keep the 'urban legend' alive that D Street is DEAD and see no reason to go out and capture new business or tell a different story that reminds folks of the real treasures to be found Downtown.

Ethel Padgett and her Candy Box are California & Marysville GOLD.  Ethel never waivers in her positive attitude, nor misses opportunities to chat up the Downtown business area and encourage others to be positive.

No small trick that when there are so many willing to sit in shops empty of customers and wonder what is wrong with that picture.  So mean have they become in attitude, they fail to see that their attitude might contribute to folks not wanting to venture in.  Who wants to patronize a shop where shop owners  could care less about their patronage.  Local merchants fail to remind selves that one has to get out and bring business in.  That is something only pro-active shop owners can do, there is no magic cure available.

I digress...

It is not hard to be high on The Candy Box when the owner is so very pleased to see you come into the shop.  No purchase is so small that it goes un-appreciated, even to the point of a small sample being offered to brighten one's day.

Were all of the shop owners of the mindset as Ethel, there would be massive number of folks on D Street.

Making candy is hard work and there are times when Ethel toils away into the wee hours of the morn to fill orders.  No request is overlooked.  From making chocolates for a large wedding (300), to special colour requests, Ethel and her helpers stand ready to make one and all happy.

Ethel no longer has to work the 1913 caramel making machine, it being retired to front of shop, she still has hands full operating all of the other tools.  Did you know that the kitchen at Candy Store does not have an oven?  I did not know that one is not required to create 'food of the gods'.  Fancy that, you learn something new every day.

Ethel is a very modern lady, she has a website for her product.  Folks from all over can go there and order and they do.  www.littlefarmhousecandies.com be the place.

The Peach Festival will soon be here and as in years past, Ethel and her helpers will be serving up many delights for the massive number of folks who come each year.  Ethel even has Peach-flavoured licorice for the event.  Ethel does not raise prices for the festival, not even for bottled water.  More's the pity that many who come and set up stalls try to rape the festival goers for every dollar possible.

I went online to see if comments could be found about The Candy Box and Ethel and managed to find a few.  There was one that was so very close to truth in telling of Ethel and her wares;

"Bumped into this place while at the Peach Festival during my peach ice cream hunt. As soon as we walked in, there were two young women to our right offering us a sample of their peach licorice and peach mint candies. I'm usually not a fan of licorice but that stuff was so good we bought 5 packs for $5. We didn't try the peach mints until after dinner and as a write this, I kind of wished we bought a bag of these too. For only $3 I had a double scoop of peach cobbler ice cream on top of a slice of peach pie. 3 words: TO DIE FOR! I shared this with my husband but he noticed for every spoonful I gave him, I gave myself three. Oops."

I have marked diary for Peach Festival and plan on helping Ethel serve up a lot of love to one and all.

Ethel told me in parting, when I did the filmed bit at her shop, to mention to all of the lovely viewers and readers to mention the blog or YOUTUBE and receive a special treat.  It is my pleasure to do so.

My dears, the filmed bit is before or after this post, pray give it a peek...